ambulatory plague
- noun
- /ˈæmbjʊlətɔri pleɪɡ/
- Archaic
:
peste ambulatoria
- The patient was diagnosed with ambulatory plague last week.
Examples
-
The doctor recognized the symptoms as those of ambulatory plague rather than the more severe form.
-
Unlike its deadly counterpart, ambulatory plague allows sufferers to remain active and mobile.
-
During the outbreak, several patients were diagnosed with ambulatory plague and recovered quickly.
-
He has ambulatory plague.
-
During the outbreak, several patients were diagnosed with ambulatory plague and recovered quickly.
-
The doctor recognized the symptoms as those of ambulatory plague rather than the more severe form.
-
Unlike its deadly counterpart, ambulatory plague allows sufferers to remain active and mobile.
Synonyms
A mild form of plague that allows the sick person to move and shows only light symptoms
A mild kind of plague that makes people less sick than usual
How Severe
9
2.9
266
6.6
- Archaic
107
1.0
- Specialized
1
8.1
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly and compositionally derived from 'ambulatory' (able to walk) modifying 'plague' (a disease), so a B1 learner who knows both words can infer it denotes a form of the disease in which the patient can still walk. This follows a regular adjective+noun composition pattern (though the phrase is rare), making the MWE transparent rather than idiomatic or metaphorical.
Etymology
The noun ambulatory plague comes from old doctors' language: ambulatory means 'able to walk' and plague means a serious disease, so they used it for cases where patients could still walk around. That's why it now means a milder, 'less severe' form of the plague.